After Shade finished speaking, he took out Luvia's ribbon and Galina's handkerchief, placing both into the recess beneath the word "living."
"That's a rather unique anchor. You have to return home because of emotional bonds—I quite appreciate that."
Miss Violet said this as the sixteen-year-old girl took out a key.
"This is the key to my castle. There are still many people waiting for me to pay their wages. Come to think of it, it's summer now, and it seems this year's summer day allowance still hasn't been paid."
Theresa took out the investigation report she had yet to finish. She was a very conscientious and responsible girl. Sister Belen first took out the fragment that had broken off her eyepatch, but after hesitating, she replaced it with a few sparks.
Miss Liard took out her wallet. After removing the banknotes inside, she set down the wallet along with its coins and a photograph of herself and her Younger Sister. But after some hesitation, she tucked the bills back inside as well before putting down the wallet.
"What about you two?"
Shade asked the mother and daughter Hounds, and Miss Liard picked them up.
The older Hound had already made up her mind.
"Leave part of my corpse behind. My daughter died before she was born. I want to return to the Reality World and watch our bodies be buried together. That will be enough."
Of course, since Shade had brought Little Mia with him, he had not forgotten the cat's "beacon." Shade believed that what the cat cared about most was him, but he was currently Within Death as well, so he could not serve as a beacon.
Besides himself, the things Little Mia liked included Home, Miss Goode, goat milk every morning, and the warm sunlight of the